Christopher Hampson Archives - North West End UK

11Jan

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

The Nutcracker – Festival Theatre

Familiarity, surprise and a sumptuously sparkling set from Lez Brotherston: that’s Scottish Ballet’s The Nutcracker. It's a wonderful escape on a sub-zero evening. The orchestra is superb and Daniel Parkinson’s musicians deliver Tchaikovsky’s score with aplomb and tenderness in turn. The corp de ballet and the principals effortlessly float and gracefully swirl as if the demanding choreography were simple. The layered, cosy set is like a warm hug. It draws you in and cradles you in its dreamworld. Within this cocoon, enjoy the antics of dizzy old Aunts, the swish of crinoline and the magic of Christmas presents, friends and family before transitioning to Clara’s dreamworld. Photo: Andy Ross Lighting by George Thomson adds greatly. Set, lighting and costumes support and showca...

The Scandal at Mayerling – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Considering the months of uncertainty, the arts have faced after the past two years, Scottish Ballet’s Scandal at Mayerling is not just a feat of performance, but a tremendous achievement. Delivering such an astonishing piece of performance art is no small undertaking, and in doing so, the company demonstrate their strength as world leading company. The scandal of the ballet’s title rocked Europe. In a small shooting lodge on the outskirts of the Viennese woods, the politics of Europe changed forever- it’s the rarely spoken catalyst of World War I. A Crown Prince with divergent political views could have changed the course of history if he had inherited the crown, but here he is, as the ballet ends, reliant on morphine, obsessed with his mistresses and lying dead with his lover. This is...

Starstruck – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Think of postmodernism and you won’t think of actor and dancer Gene Kelly, though his life and his work exists simultaneously to the peak years of the movement. In 1960, during the movement’s height, Kelly was lured to Paris to bring his trademark moves of the Hollywood movie scene to the world of ballet. The result was his pioneering work, ‘Pas Die Dieux.’ 61 years later, Scottish Ballet and Kelly’s widow Patricia Ward Kelly have brought this stellar piece of work back to the stage for it’s UK debut with a beguiling new twist. It’s simultaneously lavish, entrancing, and as the kids would say, ‘pretty meta’. Kelly’s original ballet, ‘Pas Die Dieux’ focused on the classical tale of Aphrodite and Zeus and the trials and tribulations that they face on Mount Olympus. In the ballet’s n...